Closure



March 19., 1935. H. c. ROMAINE Filed May 24, 1933 `Patented Mar. 19, 1935' PATENT oFFicE oLosUnE Hollie C. Romaine, Saginaw, Mich. Application May 24, 1933, Serialv No. `672,525V

s claims. wel. 20V-52.6)

This invention `relates to a weather strip or like device for sealing the crack around a movable closure such as a window or door, etc. More parl ticularly, the invention relates to a sealing strip which is adapted by the final closing of the closure to be forced against the closure and its casingV adjacent the crack, so as to-seal-the space between them.

Prior to this invention, weather strips generally have been of spring metal or compressiblepacking material adaptedto press resiliently against the closure member. Such weather strips, however, if made of Vresilient metal, frequently vbefY come bent, or fail to'adjust themselves to small irregularities vin the surface against which they are pressed, so that they do not form a tight seal, whereas compressible packing materials such as rubber, felt, etc., soon become hardened, packed` or worn away to such an extent that they fail to function satisfactorily. All of these, furthermore, by rubbingagainst the vwindow during its-operation, tend to make the opening and closing. of, the Window more diflicult, and frequently to produce objectionable Wear on the window frame.

Itis an object of my present invention to provide -a kweather or sealing strip which isforced laterallyinto sealing position only when the window, etc., is nallyclosed, and which will be free from the parts against lwhich it is pressed as soon as the window, etc.V is substantially opened. Another object of the invention is to provide a weather strip, etc., which will hold the windows, etc., against rattling in the wind. Still another objectof the invention is to provide a means which becomes automatically effective as a brake when the window is closed violently so as to preventv substantial rebound from the sill, and to assureA tight'closing of thewindow, even though it may not have been locked. Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the fol-Q. lowing's'pecication and the accompanying draw-` fS-tated briey, my invention contemplates the.

provision of a strip slidably mountedadjacent the crack between the closure and its casing, and

operatively connected to the closure during a very short distance during the nal closing movement of the closure, etc., so that the weather striplwill bedriven thereby into sealing relation between thev closure `and its casing, and advantageously also into a wedging relation therebetween. vvBy* such wedging the crack at one side maybe sealed by the weather strip itself, and` at the other lside may be substantially closed by wedging the window, etc., against its casing. v

I am aware that weather strips have been constructed prior to my invention in which a strip mounted on a door, or other closure, has been moved outwardly by the final closing movement of the door, so as to extend across any large crack which may be existing, e. g., beneath the door toaccommodaterugs, etc., or at the side in the case of graincars or bins. -In every case, however, such strips have been merely to extend the door across a relatively large crack, and have not been effective as sealing means, since the crack between this extension stripv and the door has necessarily lremained just` as important an avenue of leakage as the cracks which ordinarily exfist between a door 'or window and its` casing.

' Irl-distinction to'such prior artvclosure strips, the sealing strip ofthe present invention constitutes a means adapted to be pressed against, or wedged into, the crackv whichl it is desired to close, and as such constitutes a complete departure in conception from any weather strip known prior to my invention.

In the drawing, I have shown in Fig. 1 a frag-v mentary elevation of a double hung window with a Weather strip made according to my invention applied to. the inside thereof;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1; l l

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 isla vertical sectional detail taken von linea-4.0i Fig-1;

Figs. \5,- 6 and 7 are cross-sectional views 01" alternative types of weather stripwhich may be used according to the present invention;

Figs. Suzand 9 are cross-sections similar to Fig. 3,.sho.wing alternative positioning of the weather strip; and

Fig. 10 is a vertical section taken on line 10-10 of Fig. 9. f y y `In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing,V the weather strip has been shown on the inside of the window. The placing of the 'stript is a matterr of convenience, and is not esit will not grab into sealing position by its own friction against vthe casing before the window isV ably is of resilient material such as rubber or other flexible molded material, or if the strip 11 is suitably designed, may be of felt, leather, woven fabric, etc. It is not essential, however, that the tip 12 should be resilient, and even if the tip 12 is rigid, it will, by pressure against or wedging into the crack, constitute a more complete and satisfactory seal than do other types of weather strips. Thestrip 10 is mounted on the window frame14 'or in the casing 15, so that its -exible tip 12 will, with a slight lateral movement, be projected into or against the crack between the window frame and its casing, and by movement in the opposite direction may be withdrawn therefrom. Means is provided for effecting the lateral movement of `the strip from the nal movement of the window. Intheexample illustra-ted, this means kcomprises KYcam slots 16 and screws 17, the screws in this case also serving as the means for attaching the strip to the window frame. i

It will be observed that in the embodiment il` lustrated in Fig. 4l, the cam slots 16 are not at a uniform angle'tol the direction of movement of the window, but, on the contrary, form relatively steep cams for a short distance adjacent" the closing of the window, and then flatten or soas "to give a greater mechanical advantage to the window in forcing home the .sealing strip. This design of the camvslot alsoprovides for stopping the --window substantially -as 'it strikes' its fully closed position, and substantially-preventing reboundiwhich would leave thel window partially open. In some cases, it willbe more advantageous to shape the slot so thatafter the first steep portion it changes direction and is out parallel with the edge of the strip forabout or 1/2 inch. At the bottom of the slot there may be a short additional slope to drive the strip tighter against thecrack. Thus the strip will be held in substantially full sealing relation throughout the.

last half or 3/8 inch of the movement, and if the window should not be closed quite tightly, the crack will, nevertheless, be substantially sealed.

A spring or springs 2O may be provided'to pull the strip into its released position as soon Yas the window is raised and hold it constantly in said released position. On the lower sash of a double hung window, this spring is not ordinarily necessary, because the weight of the strip itselfwill hold it down in the released position. On the upper sash, however, the weight ofthe strip would tend to hold it in closed position, and it is therefore important to provide some means for holding the strip away frornthe casing, so that closed.

The bottom of the strip inthe example illustrated is turned over, as at 21, to form a footl which, in the closing of the window, strikes against the striker plate 22, and upon opening the window, strikes against a pin 23.

23, and will be held until thestriphas been moved away from the casing, whereupon the foot 21 will be withdrawn from under the pin 23, and the When the window is closed, the foot 21 strikes the plate 22 cardboard beneath it, whereupon the strip will be v driven further towards the crack. If desired, the

striker member may be an adjustable screw instead of a plate as shown or other means may be provided.v It is. also desirable, in some cases, to provide a manually movable member having both striker plate 22 andpin 23 secured thereto, so "that uponopening of the window, these members may be rs't manually moved so as yto release the sealing strip before the window is raised. Adjust ment may lalso be obtained-in other ways, as, for example, -by the use of eccentric collars 25 on the screw 17. Y v Y l 'In Figs. 8'to 10, I have illustrated, by way of example, `the building of the strips into the wine dow frame creasing, so that they are hidden from View. The operation of the strip illustrated in Fig. 8 maybe precisely the same as that already described in connection with the other gures, the triangular slot Sli-beingV provided in the edge of the window `frame toaccom'modate the strip, and the cam screws 17, and other'parts. Although in many cases, forthe sake of appearance or convenience, it may be preferable to mount-the lsealing strips on the inside of the window, it is more advantageous, whenever possible, to place they strips, e. g., Aas shown in Fig. 8, as near as possible to the outer edge of the window, and particularlyy to place itso that it is wedged between lthe window*` andthe piece which'is adjacent the'outer edge of the window, so that drafts which are stopped 'from entering between the window and its casing by'thesealing strip will not be merely diverted through some other crack intothe wall from whichjthey mayY escape atsomeother point. Of course; even .inthis casethere is some advantage because the amount of wind entering'by such circuitous route would bev considerably less than would lpaspsfdirectly through the crack which is closed by the sealing strip., lliut a construction such as that illustrated in Fig. 8 will substantially entirely prevent the entrance of wind around the' window.; `In Figs. 9 and 10,7the strip is shown as being mounted in the windowcasing instead of on` the window frame, and ar'zeordinglyy it is necessary to provide a `connection such Aas lthat shown at3l between the window frame and the strip, justas' inthe other -embodiments illustrated the connection 21-22`is providedV between the stripI and the casing or sill. In the 'same way; a catch 32 should be provided to draw the strip into the released position when the window is opened. vOf course, these suggestions are intendedA merely by way of example toillus'trate the principle of the invention, and to demonstrate that itis not limited to any `particular embodiment. Numerous otherY ways `of constructing andv applying the sealing strip may bel chosen by those skilledin the art, and it is to be understood that the invention is not limited tothel particular embodiments and modi` cations thereof described in this application. 4-What I`claim is: I A

1'. A1 sealing'device for a-closure, comprisinga strip adapted to be forced againstadjacent' parts of the closure and its casing to seal a crack therebetween, and means adapted to move said strip towards said crack and press it throughout its length against the closure and its casing and over said crack.

2. A sealing device as defined'in claim 1, in which the strip is generally wedge-shaped, so as to be forced into the crack between the closure and its casing.

3. In combination with a sliding window oasing, a strip mounted adjacent a crack between the window and casing having a resilient edge adapted to seal said crack when forced into it, said strip having cam slots therein, means in said cam slots for slidably securing said strip to the closure, y

whereby to convert longitudinal movement of the strip into a lateral movement toward and away from said crack, an adjustable striker member adapted to engage the strip just before the final closure, whereby to cause said nal movement of the closure to move said strip relative to the securing means and drive its edge against the crack, and means adapted to engage the strip while it is close to the striker member and close to the casing, whereby to hold the strip during the initial opening of the closure until the movement of the securing means in the cam slots results in withdrawing the strip away from the casing and from said engaging means.

4. A device as defined in claim 1, in which the means adapted to move the frame member toward the crack includes xed and movable cam members, compressing cam slots, and bearing members slidable relative thereto, and means adapted to be engaged with one of said cam members upon the nal closing movement of the closure so as to apply a part of the force of said final movement to relative movement of said cam members,

whereby to move the frame member towards its v crack, and the camslots are designed so that the strip is pressed against the closure a short but substantial distance Vbefore the closure is completely closed, whereby the strip serves as a brake to absorb momentum of the closure and to prevent rebound after the window is closed.

5. In combination with a movable closure and casing therefor, a sealing strip inset between the closure and its casing, and. means for adjusting said sealing strip so as to crowd it into a narrow space between closure and casing so as substantially completely to ll said space.

6. In combination with a movable closure and a casing therefor fabricated of a plurality of pieces, a sealing strip adapted to fit against the closure and a piece of the casing which is adjacent the outer edge of the closure and to close a crack between them, and means for forcing said strip against the closure and casing when the closure is shut and for retracting it therefrom when the closure is opened.

HOLLIE C. ROMAINE. 

